Popular English Idioms

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1-CRUNCH TIME: the period of time just before a project has to be completed and everyone has to work hard

• I’m not getting enough sleep these days. It’s crunch time at work
• 2. LET YOUR FREAK FLAG FLY: to let others see your uniqueness
• My colleagues were surprised at the Christmas party- I let my freak flag fly and showed them a break dance routine.

3. GET OUT OF HAND: when you lose control of things, they get out of hand

• The party got out of hand and the guests started to throw bottles at each other.

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4. GET YOUR HEAD AROUND IT: to understand something

• I just can’t get my head around the fact that Joe is leaving us.

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5. DIG IN YOUR HEELS / STICK TO YOUR GUNS: to refuse to compromise or change your mind

• My parents wanted me to give up writing, but I dug in my heels and went on to become a famous writer.
• My parents wanted me to give up writing, but I stuck to my guns and went on to become a famous writer.

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6. POUND THE PAVEMENT: to walk the streets looking for a job

• I’d been pounding the pavement for months before I found a job in a fast food restaurant.

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7. PULL A RABBIT OUT OF A HAT: to do something unexpected that may have seemed impossible

• I thought we were going bankrupt, but my partner pulled a rabbit out of his hat and we landed a major contract.

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8. LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED: to do everything you can to achieve your goal

• I’ll leave no stone unturned until I find out who did this.

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9. GET IT OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM:to do something you’ve wanted to do for a long time and don’t want to postpone any longer

• I wasn’t sure how she was going to react, but I had to get it out of my system, so I told her I had found another woman.

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10. STEP UP YOUR GAME: to start performing better

• If you want to win this competition, you’ll have to step up your game.

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11. PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER: to calm down and behave normally

• I understand you’ve had a bad day, but pull yourself together and get on with your job, will you?

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12. SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT: either start performing better or leave

• This is the last time I’m telling you to arrive on time. Shape up or ship out.

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13. CUT SOMEBODY SOME SLACK: to give somebody a break/ not to judge somebody severely

• I was extremely busy last week. Cut me some slack and I’ll finish the report by tomorrow morning.

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14. BY THE SKIN OF YOUR TEETH: when you do something by the skin of your teeth, you only just succeed/ nearly fail

• I hadn’t studied much, but passed the test by the skin of my teeth.

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15. ONCE IN A BLUE MOON: when something rarely ever happens

• We used to see him all the time, but now he just visits us once in a blue moon.

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16. GO DOWN IN FLAMES: to end or fail suddenly and spectacularly

• She’d wanted to become Managing Director, but her career went down in flames when they found out she’d been leaking information to our competitors.

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17. TAR SOMEONE WITH THE SAME BRUSH: to believe that someone has the same bad qualities as others in a group

• I don’t think much of that band, but the singer shouldn’t be tarred with the same brush. She’s got a fantastic voice.